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Colton Iverson makes a giant leap

Colorado State center credits Eustachy for physically dominant play

By Sean Star Sports Writer

Posted:
03/18/2013 10:17:43 PM MDT

Colorado State Univeristy basketball player Colton Iverson passes the ball during practice at CSU in Fort Collins on Monday, Iverson credits coach Larry Eustachy for his impressive play this season. The Rams play Missouri in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Lexington, Ky.
(Jenny Sparks)

FORT COLLINS -- Colton Iverson admittedly took a big risk two years ago when he decided to leave the University of Minnesota with just one year of eligibility remaining. He was, however, confident that with then-head coach Tim Miles at the helm, Colorado State was the right place to play his final season of college basketball.

But when he was finally able to join the Rams after sitting out all of last season as a transfer, Miles bolted for Nebraska, causing some "worrisome" days for Iverson as CSU searched for its new coach.

Turns out, the coaching change might've been the best thing for the Rams big man, who credits Miles' replacement, Larry Eustachy, for elevating his game to a whole new level this season.

Compared to his three-year averages in Minnesota, Iverson has nearly tripled his scoring, from 5.3 points a game to 14.7, and more than doubled his rebounding, from 4.3 to 9.8.

The 6-foot-10 center said he's been able to transform from a complimentary piece with the Gophers to a dominant first-team all-conference pivot for the Rams by doing what the rest of his teammates have -- completely buying into Eustachy's bruising, physical style of play.

"This whole team agrees that being physical and rebounding wins games. That's something Coach has really helped me get into my game," said Iverson, whose No. 8 seed Rams (25-8) play No. 9 Missouri (23-10) in the NCAA Tournament's round of 64 on Thursday (7:20 p.m MT, TBS-31) in Lexington, Ky. "I was never nearly as good of a rebounder as I am until this year, until Coach Eustachy came in.

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"I was never this physical, never played this physical without fouling. So he's really improved my game and took me to a whole new level."

Some may look at the leap Iverson has made during his only season in Fort Collins and assume it's at least partly due to him going from the Big Ten Conference to the Mountain West. But his coach says that has nothing to do with it.

"He's a different player. He's a more mature guy. I'm sure this is the most focused he's been his whole career," Eustachy said. "It's not the league. This league from top to bottom is every bit as good as where he came from."

The Rams enter the tournament admittedly not playing their best as of late. But you can't blame Iverson, who since Feb. 23 has been on a tear, averaging 18.7 points and 10.4 rebounds. Perhaps most impressive his 69.1 percent (47-of-68) shooting percentage during that stretch, including a Mountain West-record 12-for-12 performance in a win at Wyoming.

But because the team doesn't run any set plays for him, the onus is on the players to get Iverson enough touches, something point guard Dorian Green says the team needs to do a better job of Thursday.

"The thing about this team is we're all so unselfish that at times guys need to be a little more selfish," Green said. "I think with Colton, it starts with him. He needs to demand the ball a little bit more, and we need to do a better job of getting him the ball.

"I don't even know his numbers against UNLV (24 points, 16 rebounds), but it was evident that he was dominating the game. And we really didn't get him the ball in places where he could score, so he did a lot of it off offensive rebounds and stuff like that."

When Iverson isn't getting enough touches, Eustachy said, it's because the team settling for shots too early in the possession, like it did against UNLV. And that's never a recipe for success for this team.

"It makes no sense for us," Eustachy said. "Our biggest part of our game plan against Missouri, or any team, is you're going to have to either beat them down or beat them to death. We can break against anybody. We've got to be patient."

Eustachy said Iverson has a future in the NBA "until he gets tired." And on Thursday he'll have a chance to prove his strength and grit against Missouri's 6-9, 255-pound forward Alex Oriakhi (11.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg). It's the type of punishing matchup that Iverson says he likes the best.

"There's a lot of similarities to our team and their team. I know Oriakhi is a very good player -- obviously a very talented, athletic and big," he said. "He's going to be a great rebounder and a tough matchup for us. But I think if we can just get physical with them and kind of frustrate them, we'll be all right."